OpenAI is moving past the basic sponsored text unit in ChatGPT. Seven months after it began selling ads, the company is tackling two complaints that keep resurfacing from advertisers: limited creative formats and weak measurement. This month, both areas get their first meaningful upgrades.
US image ads start this month
Later this month, OpenAI will begin testing image ads in the United States. The pilot will run during image generation, with ads clearly labelled and kept separate from the images ChatGPT produces.
The change gives advertisers a way to show what a product or service looks like, rather than relying on a headline and description. Visually rich categories such as retail, travel and consumer goods are the natural first users of this format.
Measurement and brand suitability
OpenAI is expanding its in-house tools and partner integrations so advertisers can connect ChatGPT campaigns to web and app outcomes beyond the last click. Geo-based incrementality remains in early experimentation, so the measurement stack is improving but still not mature.
In parallel, OpenAI is running brand suitability pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science in controlled testing environments. The pilots will not give verification partners access to real user conversations, keeping the arrangement privacy-conscious.
The quick checklist for media teams
- Keep ChatGPT budgets in test mode while measurement tools reach parity.
- Link web and app tracking to read outcomes beyond the last click.
- Prepare visual creative now for the US image pilot.
- Use the brand suitability pilots before scaling in sensitive categories.
Inventory is still the structural limit
Even as formats and measurement improve, supply remains the harder problem. Zeno Group’s EVP of paid social, Shamsul Chowdhury, puts the gap in perspective: “There are about 2.5 billion prompts globally happening each day on ChatGPT, whereas there’s about 15 billion searches on Google so the volume is inherently smaller.”
Because ChatGPT has a single ad placement while Google has multiple, the platform is a high-intent but scarce environment. Media planners should treat it as a precision channel, not a reach replacement for search.
OpenAI is using the start of Advertising Week New York to gather marketer feedback, so expect the product roadmap to keep moving even while the inventory economics take longer to shift.
Source: Digiday
